Another Milestone Approaching For Coach Clark

Prince George Cougars Head Coach Dean Clark has a couple of milestones to reach during the 2009-10 season. While Clark is 17 WHL coaching wins away from 400, another milestone will take place in Chilliwack Saturday, when Clark is behind a WHL bench for the 700^th time as head coach. But that 700 plateau is not one that Clark has put too much time thinking about.
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r“Well, that’s the first time I’ve been told that so I haven’t really thought about it at all,” says the 45 year old Clark, who got his first win behind the Cougars bench on Saturday against the Spokane Chiefs in overtime, 2-1. “I guess it’s a fair number of games. It’s a real good league and I enjoy being in the league and I really enjoy being here in Prince George. I’m sure there will be many more, but quite frankly I didn’t know where exactly it was.”
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rClark began his coaching career with the Calgary Hitmen in 1996 in the club’s second season in the WHL. After 15 wins during his rookie year, Clark’s team became an instant contender, winning their first division title in 1997-98 and reaching the Eastern Conference final. Clark was awarded the CHL’s coach of the year, but the following season would be even better. The Hitmen won the WHL championship, the team’s only title, and were a goal away from the Memorial Cup, but fell to the host Ottawa 67’s in overtime in the championship. Over Clark’s time in Calgary from 1996-2001, he had the most regular season wins in the WHL during that span with 201. Clark moved on to Brandon for a couple of seasons from 2001-2003, then last coached in Kamloops from 2003-2007. Clark says a decade ago, he probably wouldn’t have thought he’d reach the 700 mark.
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r“That’s the way things have gone though. I’ve had a little bit of success here and there and I managed to stay in it. So it’s been really positive that way.”
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rMany things have changed in hockey over the last 13 years. The more the game changes, the more Clark and other coaches have had to adjust their strategy. “I’ve had a lot of hard nose coaches in the past and I think I’ve changed a little bit about some of the things that I’ve done earlier as a coach. But the game has changed too and you’ve got to learn how to adjust to how the game is played. It’s an ever evolving sport.”
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rAlex Rodgers, Kurt Torbohm, James Priestner, Garrett Thiessen and Daniel Medland-Marchen are current Cougars who have ties to Clark’s days in Kamloops. All have said they are excited about playing for Clark again in Prince George, a good illustration that he’s earned respect and admiration from most players under his watch. “I can be very hard on people but I like to think I’m very fair and treat people the way that I would want to be treated. I think that’s something that people respect and I’m excited to have those guys here. When you have good people in the organization, you can do some special things.”
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rOn Saturday at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack, Clark will become the 13^th coach to be behind a Western Hockey League bench 700 times and Lorne Molleken of the Saskatoon Blades is the only current coach with more games than Clark by 13. Time will tell when Clark becomes the next coach to hit 400 wins.